Try and join a few local Facebook pages and connect with locals who are in the house hacking business. 

P.S; We live in Wilmington NC so both markets would be "long distance" P.S.P.S there are no reasonably priced multi family properties local to us.

Also, you could also hang out at some local ice rinks where people take their kids to hockey practice!

In my experience, success in D-class areas almost always requires being local, extremely hands-on, and self-managing.

They often have different vendors introduce themselves so you can build your team and they often have a local member do a case study on one of their properties to share the ins, outs, ups, and downs of the investment.

Localized knowledge for an agent or investor is needed to answer most of these questions.

I mean by safest is on the volatility, for example STRs have many different factors, seasons of the year, local government regs and much more.

Start by getting familiar with your local market.

Network with other local investors and always have a solid emergency fund.2.

Hey @Aaron Price, I think the best way you can get started in real estate is to reach out to local investor-friendly agents in your market.